2021 Wavy Wines White Cooler

Region:  Moon Mountain < California

Grapes: Piquette of Pinot Gris/Chardonnay

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic Farming, 15 days skin contact, native yeast unfined, unfiltered, no added S02; zero-zero; 9.7% ABV

Winemaker: Jude Zasadzki & Eliot Kessel

Piquette is having a moment and we are here. for. it. Don’t be fooled though- not all are made as equally delicious. Wavy Wines is a local Los Angeles based natural wine project, where Jude and Eliot only use organic grapes and native yeast. However trendy this may seen, piquette is an ancient practice: the refermentation of grape pomace. Water is added to leftover skins, seeds and stems of the fruit and the residual sugar ferments. This ‘delicious recycling’ makes a lower ABV wine, which is great if you’re a fast drinker, or poolside pounding on a hot day. It’s sustainable, being made from a by-product that would normally be disregarded, and it makes a crushable almost fizzy wine-like beverage that you can literally chug and not feel bad about.

This blend of Pinot Gris and Chardonnay pomace is pleasingly orange and is surprisingly juicy and dense for a piquette, with bright pineapple, mango and citrus notes.  Serious tropical and Mai Tai vibes here, and dare we say it would even make a dope mixer?